


A Happy Ending

by Hardrada



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27438592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hardrada/pseuds/Hardrada
Summary: Well this one is a bit different.  First it’s not very long, and once again it’s AU.  This time, Jim and Bones meet on that shuttle and there’s a spark, but their careers take them in different directions.  Maybe one day they’ll meet again…
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Comments: 7
Kudos: 55





	A Happy Ending

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in about two hours after a friend said something to me that triggered it. So it's a bit of a speed fic.
> 
> As ever, so many thanks to everyone who leaves kudos and comments - they are such a joy to me.

**_Home is not where you were born. Home is where all your escape attempts cease_ **

“I may throw up on you”. Jim Kirk, who had kept a wary eye on the big, dishevelled man since he had been somewhat forcefully ‘invited’ to sit down, recoiled slightly, but then said that he thought they were pretty safe. The other man didn’t look convinced. Finally, however, he seemed to calm down a little, offered Jim a mouthful of moonshine and introduced himself as Leonard McCoy. 

They were thrown together at the start, both of them outsiders, both of them angry at the world and, as their colleagues said, the chips on their respective shoulders helped balance them out with each other.

They were both geniuses, in their way. McCoy was a hugely gifted medic, endlessly patient when needed, which surprised Jim, the first time he experienced it. Jim himself was an off-the-scale all round genius, bound for incredible things, but he had an immune system that hated him so badly it would fairly often try and eat him. His first experience of McCoy as a medic was on one such occasion.

It had started perfectly normally. McCoy and Jim saw each other around the campus on occasion, but their paths were heading in different directions and they took only a couple of classes together. In those classes, they invariably sat with each other. They would occasionally go out for a drink together, but McCoy was older than almost any of the other cadets, and Jim was more angry and more headstrong; they weren’t really right for each other, and so they remained acquaintances.

And then Jim ended up in the med bay. 

Completely unaware, he had eaten what he had been told was chicken. But whatever it really was, it wasn’t chicken, because chicken didn’t make his throat swell and his eyes close to tiny slits. He had been taken to the emergency department on campus and left there by his ‘friends’, and had been found wheezing and weeping on the doorstep like, as he said later, “an overgrown orphan child”.

The first thing he was aware of as he began to calm down was a voice like chocolate, speaking to him very softly in an accent that he recognised but had never been able to place. 

“You’ll be okay, kid. Just a bad allergic reaction. You had a bit of trouble breathing, but things are calming down now. Can you open your eyes for me?” 

Jim tried really hard, and managed to open them to the merest slits. His vision was filled with the softest eyes he had ever seen. The eyes smiled and he felt a big palm against his cheek. “Hey”, said the voice again. “Welcome back”.

“Oh, man…” Jim croaked. “That was a good one”.

“Happen a lot?” The hand stayed where it was and Jim, who shrank from anything that felt like real intimacy, decided he liked it. It made him feel - stable. He nodded.

“Okay”. McCoy moved away, to Jim’s silent regret. “We need to work out what else you’re allergic to, and make sure you have something to help you”.

“Well, I could always put you in my pocket”, said Jim without thinking and then winced. That kind of lip had caused him to be slapped down more than once in his life. McCoy simply looked back and smiled directly into his eyes.

“I’ve accessed your records”, McCoy continued, returning to the gurney, hypospray in hand. “And though there are some gaps that I won’t ask you about, I can see you’ve had a tough time. Well, I’m not promising that things are going to be easier for you, with your health, but at least I can ease things for you”. He held up the hypospray. “I’m just going to give you this”.

Jim nodded and braced himself. This was always a messy and painful experience and it always shocked whatever medic did it. Hyposprays were supposed to be painless, after all. He braced himself for the shot but couldn’t stop himself wincing and grunting in pain. McCoy raised an eyebrow and Jim grimaced and shrugged his shoulders. Nothing more was said.

“You’ll be okay soon”, McCoy said. “If you want to wait, I’ll see you back to your dorm”.

“Thanks”. Jim nodded and closed his eyes. He liked this guy, liked this medic. He wondered if he would get to know him better and found himself hoping that he would. That was his last thought for an hour or so as he fell asleep, as the drugs did their work.

McCoy walked him home, as promised, and they talked all the way, about nothing, about everything. McCoy told him about the bitter divorce and how, even though he hated the stars, he would end up working off-planet. He wanted to go to Yorktown. He had a kid who he adored and never saw. 

“Is that why you’re so angry?” Jim asked without thinking. “Is that why you’re here?”

McCoy looked momentarily taken aback at being asked the question so directly, but then he sighed and nodded. “I guess. Well, it certainly didn’t help. But I’m a naturally angry bastard most of the time”. Jim snorted with laughter and McCoy, after a moment, joined in.

“What about you?” McCoy asked when they had calmed down. “Why are you here?”

“Nowhere else to be”, Jim responded. “Dad was George Kirk, you’ll have learned about him during lectures, so I guess I’m destined to go back into space. I was born there, and I guess I’ll die there”. He shrugged. “Life’s never really done me any favours, so I guess that I have to take it by the throat and show it that I’m boss”. He smiled at his own words. “I’m going up there”, he gestured at the sky. “And I’m going to rock the universe”.

“I think you will”, McCoy said as they arrived at Jim’s dorm. “I’ll keep an eye out for you and read about your exploits”.

“Maybe one day I’ll land at Yorktown and we’ll meet up again”. Jim paused, his hand against the door of the dorm. “Maybe we could get to know each other”. He looked at Bones. “I’d like that”.

“So would I”, McCoy said softly. “I’d like that a lot”. He paused in his turn. “Would you like to go for dinner sometime?”

Jim smiled so brightly McCoy blinked. He found himself wanting to bottle that smile, that light, and carry it with him. “Yeah”, he said. “That sounds good”. He reached out and touched McCoy lightly on the arm. “Let’s make it soon”.

“Tomorrow? I don’t have a shift”.

“Cool”. Again, that brighter than the sun smile. “I’d really like that. He opened the door. “See you tomorrow Dr. McCoy”.

“You can’t call me that”, McCoy protested. “My name’s Leonard. Len”.

“I know what your name is, you fool. We’re in the same year, remember? I’ll think of a better name for you. Until then, you’re Dr McCoy”. Again, the smile and the door closed in McCoy’s face.

__

“I love to cook”, McCoy said the next night as they sat in a restaurant, close together, intimate in their own world, their empty dishes pushed aside. “Do you think you might like to have me cook something for you one day?”

“I love to eat”, Jim said. “How do you get to cook in your quarters? I know you don’t have to sleep in a dorm, but do you have an actual apartment?”

McCoy nodded. “That’s a fancy name for one room, but it’s nice to be able to close the door on the world sometimes”.

“I’m with you on that one”, Jim said fervently. He paused and looked down at the table, turning over the silverware and then straightening them up. McCoy simply looked, watched the way strands of hair fell over his forehead. He wanted to reach out and brush it back. This kid exuded nervous energy, but there was something else there - something deeper.

“What do you want to do?” he asked, and Jim looked up.

“I’m going to be captain of a starship”. It was immediate and definite. “The new flagship, the _Enterprise_? She’s state of the art and I want her. I’ve already applied to join the crew when we graduate”.

“Wow”. McCoy nodded. “Aim high, kid”. He smiled and raised his glass in a toast. “These old bones are earthbound, but I know I have to move on to have a chance at life”. He sighed. “I hate the stars”.

“Why?” Jim leaned forward. “It’s adventure, it’s so exciting, the unknown”. He sat back, “and anyway, maybe I need you to be my medic”. He took a mouthful of wine and grimaced, putting the glass back. “More of a whiskey guy”, he said in response to McCoy’s expression.

“Me too”, McCoy admitted. “Shall we get out of here and find a bar?”

“Yes, please”. Jim smiled.

An hour later, McCoy had Jim pressed against the door, kissing him hard and dirty, as Jim moaned and writhed, hands moving restlessly over McCoy’s body, plucking at his jacket. He had one leg wrapped around McCoy’s thigh and was rubbing against him, completely shameless.

“Christ, kid, you’re quite something”, McCoy muttered coming up for air, nipping at Jim’s lips, reaching down with one hand and grabbing Jim’s ass, pulling him closer, desperate to feel his skin.

“Come on, Bones, let’s get in here before I come in my pants”.

“Bones?” McCoy quirked an eyebrow.

“Sawbones. You’re my sawbones”. He put a hand on the back of McCoy’s - _Bones’_ \- neck. “Christ, I want you so fucking bad, Bones. Want you inside me, love the thought of you filling me up”. 

That was the kind of talk that whilst it slightly shocked the prudish southern gentleman side of Bones, also turned him on mightily, especially when it was coming out of this pretty, potty-mouthed handful, and without another word he reached out and thumbed open the door so that they both fell into the apartment.

They made it to the bed - eventually - but only after Jim ended up flat against the wall as Bones took him roughly, simply pushing their pants out of the way, making Jim practically howl his pleasure. “Noisy little fucker”, Bones panted against Jim’s ear as he pounded into him. “Gorgeous, noisy fucker”.

“Christ”, Jim responded on a groan. “You’re incredible, Bones. You’re fucking amazing”. His fingers shifted, looking for something to hold onto, something to ground himself, and in the end he simply reached backwards and hooked his fingers into Bones’ hair, holding him there, his own head tilted backwards into the crook of Bones’ neck, uttering incoherent sounds into the room, his eyes closed, his hair matted with sweat. He looked, thought Bones, fucking glorious.

Once in the bed, they took their time, Jim making Bones cry out in his turn, fingers pressing on the back of Jim’s head, forcing himself as deep as he could into that sinfully pretty mouth, Jim then sliding back up the length of Bones’ body to hold him tight as something broke and he shivered and mourned the loss of his child and the life he thought would be his forever.

And then they made love. They stopped fucking and they made love, and it was kind and soft and full of intimacy. It was a farewell and an acknowledgement that sometimes in life chances are missed. They had no future, but at least they had this.

When Bones woke the next day, Jim had gone.

__

Three days later, what became known as the _Nerada Incident_ occurred, and Jim flew out on the _Enterprise_ , so Bones never got a chance to see him. He heard that Jim had saved the day and felt foolishly proud. _I know him_ , he wanted to say. _I have seen him at his most vulnerable._

But eventually other things happened, and Jim became a fond and distant memory, out there travelling the stars. He never came back to the Academy after the _Nerada_ except for once to take over the captaincy of the _Enterprise_ , and Bones had gone to the ceremony, standing in the background and watching him. He looked so young, so very young, to be taking on the captaincy of the flagship, and Bones felt his heart crack a little bit.

_Oh, kid, space is awful big and that ship is awful small. Take good care of yourself_. Weirdly, just as the thought went through Bones’ head, he saw Jim’s head come up, like an animal scenting something, and he looked around, eyes moving over the crowd. Their eyes met, a single burning glance, full of everything there was to say.

Missed chances. 

__

**_Four Years Later_ **

“So this is Yorktown”, Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy looked apprehensively at the fragile snow globe hanging in space. “Beginning to think this wasn’t such a great idea”.

Joe Miller, his fellow new medic, laughed. “I know what you mean. Have you ever seen anything so damn - breakable?”

“Still, on the plus side, we’re a long way from anywhere out here. We’re in the boonies, it’s just luxury accommodation in the boonies, that’s all”.

“But serious luxury”. Joe rubbed his hands together. “Can’t wait to see our quarters”.

“I can’t wait to see the medical centre”.

Joe laughed. “That’s so typical of you, Len”, he said. “First thing you think of”.

McCoy shrugged, giving a half smile. It was true. He had become 100% focused on his work since he had graduated from the Academy, and he had become bloody good. The Yorktown administrators had practically fallen on their knees and begged him to come out to them. And it was a long way away, a long way from his kid, which broke his heart, but it also put distance between him and his wife, which was more important.

“Maybe you’ll find a girlfriend at last”, Joe continued blithely. “Hasn’t been anybody since Diane, has there?”

“Nope”. Len shook his head. “And look at the fucking disaster that was”.

“You didn’t know she was psychotic, don’t beat yourself up”. Joe was gazing fixedly out of the window as the ship began to slide into dock. “Look at this place, Len, look at it!”

It was incredible, Len had to admit. Full of light, the world confined in what looked, frankly, like plexiglass, which made Len shudder. Awful easy to break, plexiglass. 

“I suppose at least when that breaks, it’ll be over quickly”, he muttered, resolutely turning his head away and glaring at his fellow travellers as they all made appreciative noises in their turn. Jesus, couldn’t these idiots see how damn fragile this world was? People were so stupid sometimes.

“Come on”. Joe stood up as the ship finally docked and the engines powered down. “Let’s get out of here”.

Len agreed. He was tired and his muscles were stiff after sitting in various shuttles and transports for what seemed like days on end and he was glad to have finally arrived, even though he was having to make a life that he had never really wanted. He sighed and squared his shoulders. Just have to make the best of it. He missed his little girl as if his heart had been ripped out, though. Maybe once he had settled here, he could get back in touch with his ex-wife and perhaps they could arrange for him to at least have her visit. She was growing up; she’d love the thought of being independent enough to travel alone all this way, even though Len would make sure she was shadowed all the way.

He realised he was thinking ahead and decided that was a good thing as he followed Joe out of the ship. The air in Yorktown tasted strange. Recycled, of course, so maybe that was it. _Christ, I’ll never breathe fresh air again._ He shook himself mentally. _Stop it! Come on McCoy, stop it._

And actually, he settled, and he settled quickly. The medical centre was state of the art and he and Joe quickly settled into a good rhythm of work, understanding each other’s needs. It was all good.

Then he met Abe, and almost fell in love. A fellow medic, Abe understood the shifts and the obsessions, and they got along and laughed together. But it didn’t happen, for whatever reason, and after a couple of months of dating, Len realised that they were just playing at it; he didn’t want to fall in love. He didn’t think he was capable of it. Abe realised it too, and Len saw the very second it happened.

“I’m sorry”, he said. “I’m sorry, Abe”.

“You’re a good man”, Abe had replied, kissing him gently on the cheek. “But you’re going to be alone all your life. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s true”.

Len put his hand on Abe’s cheek pulling on the dark hair that he thought he had loved and smiled. He could feel the strain of it and realised that he didn’t smile very often. It felt unnatural on his face. He kissed Abe and pulled the hair once more, before turning away and leaving him at the door of his quarters, making for his own lonely bed and cursing the face that still haunted him. His missed chance.

__

He had been there not quite a year when the strangeness happened and the fragility of Yorktown came into focus.

It was - as usual - bright and dry. One of the things he missed badly was walking in the rain. He loved his job, but he hated Yorktown and was thinking of moving on. Finding a planet with an atmosphere. He wanted to walk in the rain again, wanted to walk in the snow. So he dragged himself out of his bed and made for the medical centre, hardly raising his head as he made his way across the town. He barely noticed the mixture of races and cultures now; he just got up and went to work. He wasn’t a fool, he recognised depression, but he couldn’t work up the energy to do anything about it.

It was Joe’s last day today. “Moving on, Len”, he had said. “Yorktown is the kind of place you come through; it’s not the kind of place you stay”. He had looked hard at Len at that point. “You need to listen to what I just said, okay?” He had stepped closer. “People don’t stay here for long, Len. It’s not good for you”. Len had nodded.

It was a quiet day. For all its state of the art equipment, it was usually quiet. The most exciting time they had had during Len’s tenure was when two starships had docked simultaneously and the crews had got drunk and had a massive fight - what Joe had referred to as “a right old barney”.

The _Enterprise_ had never docked. Until that day, until Joe’s last day.

“Have you heard?” Joe looked up as Len entered the med bay. “The flagship is landing today. The _Enterprise_ is docking. We get to see the legends. Wonder if they’ll have a dust up in the street. In a legendary way, of course”.

Len didn’t respond. His mind went straight back to a beautiful face and a sinful mouth and a night where something had been given, and something had been lost.

“Did you hear me?” Joe asked. “Didn’t you go to the Academy with half of the crew of the _Enterprise_?”

“Yep”. Len moved away. “Long time ago now”.

“Do you know the legendary Captain Kirk?”

“Yep”, Len said again. “We knew each other”.

He closed the door of his office, sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands.

_Jim. Oh Christ on a bike. Jim._ Len was no fool. His missed chance haunted him, and now he was going to be in reach. What did he do?

In the end, he did nothing. Along with most of Yorktown, he saw the shadow of the _Enterprise_ as she moved towards the dock. The crew disembarked. Len worked. And he thought every second about that mouth and those hands. And dammit, if he didn’t want to fall to his knees and cry out his loss and his want and his years of loneliness.

But he didn’t go looking. He was too frightened. Too frightened that he would see Jim; too frightened that he wouldn’t. What if Jim had moved on, found someone on the crew? What if he hadn’t? Bones simply sat in the loneliness of his apartment, head in hands, remembering every moment of their one night.

He was relieved and broken when the _Enterprise_ left so quickly, called away to some rescue mission. He continued to drag himself to work. There was no Joe any more; there was nobody he could talk to. He had built himself such a wall of solitude that nobody could breach it. He had done it without realising it and he didn’t know the first thing about getting out from under.

And then a bright spot.

“So, I guess that she can come to Yorktown maybe in a couple of months when school is over. But Leonard, you have to be there. If you go to work just once whilst she’s there, then I tell you now, you will never see that child again”.

“I get it”. Leonard gazed at the screen, putting all the sincerity he could into his tone. “I promise you, I won’t leave; I’ll be here for her”. He put his hands together in a praying motion. “Thank you, thank you for this. I’ve missed her so much”.

“Yes, I do believe that”. The once-loved face softened. “You look tired and wrung out. You work too hard”.

“Nothing else for me to do”.

“Okay, I have to go. But she’ll come soon. She asks after you”.

“Tell her I love her”, Len blurted. “Tell her I can’t wait”.

The communication ended and Len took a huge breath. At last, something to look forward to. His beloved child was coming visiting.

He suddenly became aware of the noise outside, and he frowned, standing up and moving to the window. People were running around in directionless panic, and there was a huge shadow in the sky. Len craned his neck to try and see what was happening, and froze, appalled by what he saw. Ships - something, maybe not ships - were directly above them, threatening the fragility of the base. He squinted, unable to make out exactly what it was he was seeing. The only thing that was certain was that he needed to be in the medical centre. Even if nothing else happened, some of these fools running around in circles would hurt themselves and he would be needed.

He had barely made it to the medical centre when the power went out. One of the nurses screamed in shock and the noise went through Len. The emergency lighting kicked in quickly, leaving the nurse shamefaced. Len shot her a small smile and made his way to the emergency room.

“What’s going on?” he demanded of one of the interns, who was gazing at a screen. “What’s happening?”

“Yorktown is under attack!” he said, his voice shocked. “Nobody really knows what’s going on, except that we’re under attack”. There are reports that a starship has pursued whoever it is, and the crew are now on the ground, but there are no reports - Jesus!” He showed Len the holo screen. 

The city was under attack from - a swarm. There was no other word. They stormed through the city destroying everything in their wake. “I’ve never seen anything like it”, said the intern.

Neither had Leonard. “No”, he said. “But you have a job to do. There will be casualties from this and so you need to get to your post”. He saw the look of terror cross the intern’s face and clapped him on the shoulder. “This is where the training come into its own. You’ll do great”. He moved away and began to bark orders to the staff to be ready with whatever was needed.

__

It was the most terrible, the most traumatising few hours of Bones’ life up to that point. The casualties began to come in, a trickle at first and then suddenly a flood, each of them with some different version of what was happening. Stories of a huge swarm of bees attacking the city, of buildings collapsing, of ships falling from the sky. The sky that was so black, so filled with the swarm that the lights had to be on and several times Len had to augment the light with a head torch. He had switched off any of his feelings as he triaged the worst cases. He had to leave those who had no chance so that the people who had a chance could be treated first. Those with minor cuts just had to wait. Of course, some of them whined because they always did. Len went out into the emergency room, deliberately bloody in his scrubs and simply stood there, arms folded across his chest and a glare on his face until the entire room quietened.

“None of you are going to die of your wounds”, he thundered. “I am dealing with victims who have lost limbs, who have lost almost all the blood in their bodies. I think that you should do the decent thing and stop complaining”. He paused, waiting for someone to speak - there was always one. And yes, an Andromedan male slowly stood. Len saw him take a breath, so he took a step forward and simply raised a finger and said, “No. Not one word”. He looked so angry that the Andromedan folded immediately and looked at the floor. “Good”. He looked around. “Anybody else?”

Nobody else.

__

It seemed never-ending, but eventually the constant stream of casualties began to slow down and Len was able to look up and stretch his back and his neck. He ached in every muscle, but he felt alive down to his fingertips This was what he was born for.

“Dr McCoy?” He looked around and was surprised to see the intern from earlier hovering in the doorway.

“You still here? Why haven’t you come off shift?”

The intern smiled, but didn’t answer and Len nodded his approval. Good kid. Stayed in post.

“What can I do for you?”

“We have another minor casualty. Kind of a big shot, so I was told to ask you to look after them”.

“Who is it?” Len said suspiciously. The intern shrugged. “I was just told to ask you”.

“Oh, all right”. Len rolled his eyes. “Fucking big shots”. The intern snorted a shocked laugh and left the room.

Len leaned back against the bio bed and waited.

And Jim Kirk came in. No longer the kid; a man now, battered and bruised, and with eyes that had seen the stars. But so, so beautiful, so fucking, _sinfully_ beautiful, and Len forgot, genuinely forgot, to breathe. He was in a blue survival suit, dusty and hanging open, looking like the man of action he so clearly was.

Jim stopped dead in his tracks and simply gazed.

“Oh God”, he said finally. “Oh, Bones, it’s you. I finally found you”.

“Yeah, kid”, Len - _Bones_ \- said, feeling his lips twitch. “I’ve been waiting long enough”.

In two strides Jim was across the room and into Bones’ arms, and oh God, if that didn’t feel just about perfect, just about right.

“What’s wrong?” Bones said finally against Jim’s hair - still those few strands that fell across his forehead - “why did you have to come here?”

“Hmm? Oh, just to get patched up. I have to look pretty for the holo broadcasts you know. And I kind of broke my ship. Again”. He rested his cheek against Bones’ shoulder, his lips brushing the dark stubble of Bones’ neck “I have missed this. I have missed you so damn much. There isn’t a day gone past I haven’t thought about you. I’ve been so fucking lonely”. He raised his head and simply gazed at Bones, hands moving up to cup and stroke, long fingers moving over Bones’ features, learning again. “We’re both older”, he said at last. “Got some mileage on us”. He smiled, and Bones’ heart responded in the way it had all those years ago. “You’re so beautiful. You look tired though”.

“Back at you”. Bones looked into Jim’s eyes and then down to his lips. Back up to his eyes, asking for permission. With the merest nod, Jim responded, and Bones lowered his head and kissed him, and oh fuck, if that wasn’t like coming home then nothing was.

“Oh, that’s nice”, Jim rested his head against Bones’ shoulder again. “I’m not letting you go again”.

“We’ve got some talking to do about that”, Bones said. “But we’ll work it out. Now, do you need fixing up?”

Jim shook his head. “No. I need to come home with you. My First Officer is outside and I just need to tell him that I won’t be available, and then - take me home, Bones. Will you do that?”

Bones didn’t respond. Simply took that dear, loved and missed face in his hands and kissed him again, much more gently and Jim blinked at him, smiling.

Yeah, a lot of talking ahead. But as they left the medical centre together, Bones knew that they would work it out somehow. Because he wasn’t giving this up again. 

The End


End file.
